Expect the Unexpected
by miss-worldwide
Summary: I came to London to reinvent myself, to breathe the new culture and attend one of the most prestigious universities in the world. I most definitely did not fly 3,500 miles across the Atlantic to allow two irritatingly cute popstars to steal my heart.
1. Fast Car

Any time before 12 PM is an ungodly hour, at least in my perspective. With this in mind, you could assume that I must have seriously been on something when I agreed to 8 AM Marketing lectures on a MONDAY morning. I swear I could write a best-seller novel, stating precisely why I despise this specific fraction of my day. I was just not a morning person. It also didn't help that I'd had to stay out working a late shift last night at Monmouth Coffee and finish a 10-page economics paper while getting a lecture over Skype from my mother who was in New Jersey about time management and the effects of self-deprivation and other silly nonsense.

I (literally) rolled out of bed, and being the idiot I am, hit the ground with a thud. I groaned and wearily picked myself up and made my way over to my little bathroom to make myself look half-decent in a city where absolutely everyone and everything was beautiful: London.

I'd landed in Heathrow exactly a month ago, and in the 30 days that had passed, I had had to slowly re-create a whole new life for myself in this breathtaking city. I'd had to adjust to the new urban and metropolitan lifestyle, the vernacular, the weather, the different people, just everything was so drastically different from the small-town, Plain-Jane way of life I was so accustomed to.

I came from a small suburb in New Jersey, and had never really gotten the opportunity to do much or see anything. I had always had this adventurous spirit locked up inside me, waiting to getting out, and college was that chance for me to escape the monotonous drone of suburbia and expand my horizons. Everything after that glorious moment when I received my acceptance letter to UCL is a mere blur.

Everything about my life now is absolutely insane, but I love it. It's the lifestyle I've craved so long, and I enjoy being busy and getting to explore and finally adventure and meet new people and see new places, and well, truly live. I'm a first-year student at UCL, London's Global University and I live in an apartment near uni rented out for me by my parents and I also work at a coffee shop to earn some extra bills by myself so I don't have to be totally dependent on my mom and dad for my money.

I stepped out of the shower and threw my long brown hair into a messy bun on the top of my head, put on this outfit (./tumblr_ly8fmplJ8i1qzar7so1_) and grabbed a cinnamon bun and bottled orange juice to take to-go. I then proceeded to put my laptop, iPhone and other essentials into my bag, locked the door and hurried out.

It was basically a fifteen minute walk to uni, and although I did hate mornings, I didn't hate London. There was so much to observe and see on this specific walk and the way I saw it, it was quite the enthralling experience.

"Miraya!" I turned around hearing my name, and smiled when I saw that it was Lila, one of the few good friends I'd made in my time here.

"Mir, I texted you like a billion times asking if you wanted to walk with me!"

I pulled my phone out of my bag, and sure enough, 20 unread text messages. "Shit, sorry, I didn't even check my phone. I don't really know what I'm even doing on Monday mornings. It's a miracle if I'm even dressed properly."

Lila bit her lip and pointed at me. "Well I don't know how to say this, but, um, you're not wearing a shirt…"

Naturally I freaked out and fearfully looked down, relieved when I saw the familiar thermal I'd put on earlier. I glanced over at Lila, who was suppressing a fit of giggles.

"You filthy little thing!" I said, smacking her shoulder.

She put her hands up in defense. "I'm sorry, your reactions are just so hilarious, I absolutely had to see what I would get out of you this time."

"I just had to see what I would get out of you this time!" I mimicked her Irish accent and this time I was the one who got smacked.

"I thought you'd grown tired of making fun of my Irishness!" she pouted, which only earned her a fresh round of laughs from me.

"Good one, your Irishness is only going to grow old in my eyes as soon as The Wanted boys become ugly, which is basically never." I smiled smugly at her and she stuck out her tongue at me. Very mature, Lila James.

"Doesn't seem like you enjoy making fun of certain Irish males though," Lila said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and I rolled my eyes.

"Please. You of all people should know that Zachary and I are nothing. He doesn't even like me like that. And besides, we only met like two weeks ago, so I barely know the dude."

"Yeah, but I know that you wish more than anything that he'd ask you out sometime. He's attractive, has a sense of humor, is intelligent beyond belief, and oh my goodness, those EYES. I just can't." Lila dramatized and I let out a chuckle.

"But he's not going to go for me. I'm not the kind of girl the Zacahrys of the world go for. " I sighed, and bit my lip, wondering if just maybe by some crazy chance he did find me fancy-able.

"Rubbish! Love, you need to have more faith in yourself. Put yourself out there. I seriously think you need to go out with me more. You could end up with a whole new outlook on life. "

"And get piss drunk and end up on the front of Sugarscape with the caption 'JLS groupie gets a little too out of hand'? No thanks babe," I said jokingly.

"Okay, Mir, that was a misunderstanding and you know it! But you know what, I regret nothing!" she winked playfully.

"Miraya! Lila!" We turned around and I met a pair of cool blue eyes. Zachary.

"Hey Zach," I replied shyly. "I didn't know you had an early morning lecture like the rest of us unfortunate lot." I gestured over to the other uni students who were proceeding towards the university.

Lila who was behind Zach started making kissy faces and I tried not to look.

"Yeah, actually I've got a Biology lecture in the mornings. No rest for the pre-med student." As we walked, his hand softly brushed mine and my heart began to race. God, I was so unbelievably pathetic.

"Speaking of, I see one of my pre-med mates over there and I need to discuss internship business with him so I'll talk to you ladies later?" Although he was addressing both of us, I could swear his eyes lingered a bit longer on me before subtly winking. Me and my pathetic little heart died then and there.

"Yeah sure, text us anytime and we'll go out and do something!" Lila said, and I merely smiled.

He walked off in front of us but then turned around, as if a thought had stopped him from going further, and made eye contact with me.

"Actually, Miraya? Are you free tonight?" Did I just hear him properly? Because if I haven't gone completely bonkers, I swear I think he's about to ask me out.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm free."

He smiled widely and his crystal blue eyes nearly twinkled. "Good." And with that, he was off to go find his friend, leaving me perplexed as ever. I was not expecting that.

"What. The. Fuck. What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked Lila, who seemed just as confused as I was.

"Well, I'm guessing you'll find out soon. He's quite the charming fellow, and seems like one who enjoys surprises so I think you'll be having a good night." Lila smiled widely, and linked arms with me as we made our way onto campus.

I might barely know this guy, but there were butterflies in my belly and I couldn't wipe the huge smile on my face so you could say he was doing something right. Hopefully tonight would be the start of something incredible.

….And it was, it really was.


	2. Love U Betta

I mindlessly scrolled through my twitter feed as I walked back to my flat after uni, skimming through various #YOLO hashtags and updates from my friends back in America. After high school it seemed as if those friendships had just all broken apart. We were all pursuing different goals in life and I suppose now that the hometown comfort that had connected us all had withered, our friendships were weakening as well. Obviously I was still close with a few people that I'd known all my life but being in a different time zone across the pond—it was just too much of a struggle to keep in touch with others. Also I, being the laziest bitch in existence, just don't have the willpower to organize Skype dates and long distance phone call sessions so the number of fucks given about the people I went to high school with has dramatically reduced over time.

I have much more important things to worry about anyways. Like that whole thing with Zach, which is basically enigmatic and vague as fuck so I have no idea what to do. He asks me if I'm busy tonight and doesn't give a clue as to what he means. Are we going on a date on a Monday night? A little pushy for the first date, but I suppose I can deal since it's Zach. Sweet, sexy, Zach with his Burberry cologne and defined abs and med student cuteness and adorable Irish quirks. Praise the Lord for the creation of such perfect human beings.

I checked my texts to see if Zach had finally decided to fill me in on this supposed affair, gathering, date, whatever it was going to be but I was met with no new messages other than a text from some dumb beauty salon back home that had decided to inform hairy specimen such as myself about their special offer for bikini and underarm waxes. Good to know.

I sighed and put the phone back into my bag and pulled out my keys as I climbed the stairs to my flat. As I neared my specific apartment, I saw a package lying on the doormat.

Well, that's definitely strange. I don't think I'm expecting anything as I haven't ordered anything recently. Maybe it's a gift from someone back home? Or maybe it's been wrongly delivered? I bent over and picked up the package and went inside.

I ripped off the paper covering the outer package and came to realize that it was a Topshop box. At this point I was extremely perplexed, as I hadn't ordered anything from there in a while. Inside the box was a gorgeous, cream-colored bandeau dress that is totally my style. Whoever was sending this must know me quite well or must just have very decorous taste. I rummaged inside the box some more and found an envelope. I opened it up and found a letter scrawled out in messy handwriting, clearly male:

_Hi babe, _

_I know this might be a bit weird for you but I'm just one for spontaneous surprises. Sorry, I know we're not the closest of friends yet but I'd really like to take you out to dinner tonight. Let's go for Indian food! Wear this gorgeous dress for me and meet me at Amaya on Motcomb Street at 7 tonight? I know this is really last minute but things have just been really hectic lately. Oh well, it's just the rollercoaster that is life, you gotta ride it! Can't wait to see you. xx-Z _

A smile as large as Kim Kardashian's derriere spread across my face as I read the letter again and again just to make sure I wasn't imagining this. Yes, Zachary, this absolutely gorgeous and intelligent and flat-out awesome guy was interested in me and was inviting me to dinner in the most adorable of ways! I texted Lila and gave her a condensed version of what'd just happened and told her to get her ass to my flat as soon as possible. I opened a bottle of coke and turned up the radio which began to blast Nicki Minaj's Starships and danced on my couch and on top of my secondhand coffee table like some deranged, mentally instable sorority chick. Judge me bitches, but I haven't been on a date or outing with a guy since my senior prom. Yeah, I needed to get laid. No kidding.

When Lila arrived we basically pulled an Emma Stone in Easy A dancing to Pocketful of Sunshine moment and I would have gotten out the bubbly but Lila insisted I stay sober for this affair if I wanted to keep this guy. She pointed out that he didn't need to get acquainted to my crazy bitch side just yet. I could unleash that later. Right now, I needed to appear…normal. That will be difficult.

"I told you Zachary wasn't just going to leave you like that!" she playfully hit me. "You're an idiot for thinking he wouldn't get back to you."

"Ugh, I know but you only see stuff like this on Tumblr! It's kind of too good to be true." I fell back on the couch and drained the rest of my Coke.

"No, look at me. Listen, you are hot. And you are smart and talented and you have a sense of humor…at least whenever you're not making your stupid puns and lame jokes about seven eating nine and shit like that. And you're bloody American. Every male within a 100 mile radius wants to get into your leopard print Victoria's Secret knickers." She rolled her eyes as if this was an obvious fact.

"Oh my god, that's disgusting Lila! And mind you, everyone loves my puns! They're witty. I'm kind offended that you don't appreciate them."

"No. You are not going to be punny on this date. Now you want this more than anything, so I'm going to make you look smoking hot so you can blow that boy's mind and then go on more and more dates and one day make half-Irish babies and name one of them Lilac." She placed a hand on her chest as if she had been really touched and I rolled my eyes in response.

"Okay Lila this is just our first date, if you've forgotten. And two, why would I name my kid Lilac? If we're going with flowers as names then I might as well name the next one Carnation. And the one after that Peony. And the fourth one Orchid."

Lila threw a pillow at my head. "Oh my god, you're an idiot. I think the name Lilac is lovely! Any of your children would be fortunate to have such an exquisite name."

"Totally. Extremely exquisite. No seriously, remind me why I'm friends with you?"

"Because I'm awesome. You'll learn to love me someday." She reached over to her purse and emptied the contents, which were mainly the miracle workers from the makeup studio which she apparently lugged around everywhere she went. "Now let's do this."

"And I'm a wizard, agreed? I still wonder how they could have ever possibly forgotten to send me my Hogwarts acceptance letter on my 11th birthday. Clearly, I can perform some magic. What do you think?" Lila looked up at me expectantly as I turned to face the mirror and gasped.

"Oh. My. God. Shit. You are too good." The girl that was looking back at me in the mirror was not me. There were no blackheads on my nose and pimples scattered on my chin. My eyes seemed to sparkle and oh damn, this dress hugged every curve I didn't even know existed. My red hair was done in a sexy but elegant updo, and the nude pumps on my feet made my legs look so long, they could give Heidi Klum a run for her money.

"You are not pretty. You are not beautiful. You are as radiant as the sun!" Lila dramatized with a quote from The Hunger Games as she tucked a stray curl behind my ear. "And now you're going to blow this boy's mind. Better get into that taxi, it's already 6:30 and you know how traffic is at this time."

"Have I ever mentioned how much I love you?" I enveloped my eccentric but absolutely amazing best Irish friend in a hug and grabbed my clutch and coat and was out the door.

"And don't you forget it honey! Remember, pop that hip and twirl that curl. Sexy and cute, that's how you've gotta play it. And I'm Lilac's


End file.
